Our first day in Shanghai dawned bright and sunny - it's
really a treat to see the sun! While it didn't rain while we were on the boat,
we didn't see the sun at all so it's been DAYS since we actually had sunlight
shining on our faces. Our first stop of the day was the Oriental Pearl TV
Tower. We went to the top and got a birdseye view of the city - what an amazing
view! And we were so lucky to have a clear day. The observation platform had 2
levels - one that was all glass enclosed and another that had open air with a
glass bottom. I loved it!
Our next stop was the Shanghai Museum. It's a well done museum that has various exhibits that offered a lot of choices for our group. We spent an hour wandering around the museum then went for lunch. Guess what - it wasn't Chinese food! We went to a teppenyaki restaurant instead. It was good - a nice change from the daily Chinese food we've been having. It's different from teppenyaki restaurants in the states though - the chef was cooking right at our table, but there was very little 'show'. It was just a utilitarian way to cook our lunch. The only showmanship was when he lit the food on fire - on purpose... That was pretty cool.
Our next stop was Yu Gardens. It's in the middle of Old Shanghai and included several old buildings and nicely landscaped gardens and ponds. After our garden tour, we had some shopping time at the shops in the Old Shanghai center. Then we headed back to the bus to move on to our next stop - The Bund.
The Bund is an Indian word for water walkway. You could also call it a boardwalk. It's a nice, wide elevated boardwalk overlooking the river and all of the high rise buildings on the other side. There were a lot of people there but it didn't feel crowded because it's long and wide and there are access points all along.
From the Bund, we went to Nanjing Road - this is a 3.5 mile pedestrian only street that's nothing but shopping - and most of the shops are high-end. By this time, it was approaching dinner time and Linda had the idea to ask our guide if there was a Turkish restaurant available. He suggested one that was only about 5 minutes away so I headed out with Linda and Les to seek it out. We found it easily and were thrilled! The food was authentic Turkish - delicious, fresh and all the wonderful flavors that we expected with Turkish food.
After dinner, we walked along Nanjing road again - by this time it was after dark and all of the shops were lit up. It was a bit of sensory overload - all the neon signs in Chinese characters, all of the people, the little tour tram tooling around and ringing its bell... It was an incredible experience. At the end of Nanjing Road, we arrived back at the Bund. Seeing that after dark was really cool - the high rise buildings across the river are not just lit up, most of them have changing light displays so the view is different every time you look.
We walked along the river for quite a distance, then took to the streets to work our way back to the hotel. All in all, we walked about an hour to get from the restaurant back to the hotel. I decided to end my night was a soak in the awesome bath tub, which felt great after the long walk after dinner. Not quite as nice as a hot tub, but pretty close!
Our next stop was the Shanghai Museum. It's a well done museum that has various exhibits that offered a lot of choices for our group. We spent an hour wandering around the museum then went for lunch. Guess what - it wasn't Chinese food! We went to a teppenyaki restaurant instead. It was good - a nice change from the daily Chinese food we've been having. It's different from teppenyaki restaurants in the states though - the chef was cooking right at our table, but there was very little 'show'. It was just a utilitarian way to cook our lunch. The only showmanship was when he lit the food on fire - on purpose... That was pretty cool.
Our next stop was Yu Gardens. It's in the middle of Old Shanghai and included several old buildings and nicely landscaped gardens and ponds. After our garden tour, we had some shopping time at the shops in the Old Shanghai center. Then we headed back to the bus to move on to our next stop - The Bund.
The Bund is an Indian word for water walkway. You could also call it a boardwalk. It's a nice, wide elevated boardwalk overlooking the river and all of the high rise buildings on the other side. There were a lot of people there but it didn't feel crowded because it's long and wide and there are access points all along.
From the Bund, we went to Nanjing Road - this is a 3.5 mile pedestrian only street that's nothing but shopping - and most of the shops are high-end. By this time, it was approaching dinner time and Linda had the idea to ask our guide if there was a Turkish restaurant available. He suggested one that was only about 5 minutes away so I headed out with Linda and Les to seek it out. We found it easily and were thrilled! The food was authentic Turkish - delicious, fresh and all the wonderful flavors that we expected with Turkish food.
After dinner, we walked along Nanjing road again - by this time it was after dark and all of the shops were lit up. It was a bit of sensory overload - all the neon signs in Chinese characters, all of the people, the little tour tram tooling around and ringing its bell... It was an incredible experience. At the end of Nanjing Road, we arrived back at the Bund. Seeing that after dark was really cool - the high rise buildings across the river are not just lit up, most of them have changing light displays so the view is different every time you look.
We walked along the river for quite a distance, then took to the streets to work our way back to the hotel. All in all, we walked about an hour to get from the restaurant back to the hotel. I decided to end my night was a soak in the awesome bath tub, which felt great after the long walk after dinner. Not quite as nice as a hot tub, but pretty close!
AHHHHHHHHHHHH.....I loved every one of them!! Again, thank you for sharing, I can always count on being able to 'live vicariously' thru you!!
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